Miami Emerging Leaders Bring Comfort and Support to NICU families at Holtz Children’s Hospital
After an exciting ribbon-cutting ceremony, the new Family Room for parents with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit was inaugurated this month.
On June 7th, 2022, The Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce Leadership Miami’s One M1AM1 team, in partnership with ICU baby and Holtz Children’s Hospital, celebrated over $20,000 in donations to renovate the neonatal ICU unit family room. Seen as a necessary undertaking, this room is used to support and comfort those who are dealing with severely ill or in critical condition babies.
Keeping in mind the hardships these families are dealing with, a representative for the organization, Florencia Olivera explains:
“We conducted extensive research with several NICU parents. The findings directly influenced how we prioritized the changes made – from removing a large wall-to-wall mirror that parents felt was just an amplification of the many challenges they were facing (by having to see themselves in the mirrors all the time) and lacked privacy, to painting the walls in more soothing, tranquil colors, to procuring new, more comfortable, hospital-grade furniture, and importantly, providing amenities that weren’t available in the room before”.
Many of the other design changes focus on soothing elements like artwork, calming colors, and access to an immediate digital connection. This includes a smart TV, Wi-Fi-enabled iPads, and resources for NICU parents. Families can also keep themselves refreshed with new immediate access to coffee and water.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony saw many of Greater Miami’s emerging leaders speak, as well as hospital staff and even some NICU parents. Understanding how important it is to offer support with more than just a physical room, Florencia explains their ongoing plans to support parents:
“We also hope to extend the support and tools NICU parents need beyond the physical room, with a newly launched NICU Family Forum. One M1AM1 is helping our nonprofit partners ICU baby launch its first-ever family engagement initiative, “Family Forum,” a supportive community that accompanies the families as they move through the very difficult NICU journey. In-person events and a virtual platform will be incorporated, building strong connections and an online community to share experiences, and learn from others, and from subject matter experts.”
When it comes to healthcare, most of the time the patient isn’t the only one affected. The efforts made to renovate the NICU Family Room were deeply rooted in compassion and speak to the hearts of Greater Miami’s emerging leaders.
The generous donations for the renovation were made possible by: the Harris Family, the Nunez family in honor of their son Miguelito, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Florida Power & Light Company, Greenspoon Marder LLC, and many other generous donors.
